Converting magnetic card to chip card: What is the benefit for users?

According to the plan, from May 28, Vietnam ATM card market will switch from magnetic card technology to chip card. The first seven banks to carry out the transformation are Vietcombank, VietinBank, BIDV, Agribank, Sacombank, TPBank and ABBank.

Minimize the risk of losing money due to data theft and card counterfeiting

Mr. Nguyen Quang Minh – Deputy General Director in charge of research and development – Vietnam National Payment Joint Stock Company (Napas), the uniform application of chip card standards between credit institutions and supply units Payment services help to increase many features and utilities for customers, making an important contribution to promoting cashless payment. Switching to chip cards also limits the risk of copying and stealing card information to make counterfeit cards withdraw money at ATM as currently. Statistics show that the rate of counterfeit transactions decreased dramatically when switching from a magnetic card to a chip card.

The first seven banks have made the switch from magnetic card to chip card with the number of ATM cards accounting for about 70% of the total number of cards across the country. “These are the pioneer banks in registering card conversion with Napas. We serve on the principle that first come, first served, all banks are fair ”- Mr. Minh said.
Napas representative also said that Napas has completed the process, infrastructure, resources and techniques to ready to support all commercial banks in the transition process, at the request of the State Bank. The Vietnamese chip card standard set (VCCS – the base standard for domestic chip card) was also developed by this unit according to a specific standard for the Vietnamese market, compatible with EMW international standards; Technical platform for developing ecosystems via mobile …

Are there any conversion fees?

Currently, there are no official documents of the parties on the regulations related to conversion fees. However, Napas leaders said that during the steering committee meetings, the parties were still holding the view that the bank would have to be responsible for exchanging cards for customers. The view of the SBV is that customers do not incur any additional costs and the issuers will be responsible for the costs incurred during the conversion of this card. According to Minh, the conversion to chip cards will also purify the number of virtual cards, open the card but not use

In Circular 41, the State Bank of Vietnam has requested a specific route for the conversion of all ATM cards made from magnetic to chip cards. By the end of this year, at least 30% of the cards in circulation must comply with the local standard for chip cards domestically, or about 21 million ATM cards must be converted to chip cards. The deadline for the conversion of all ATM cards on the market to chip cards is the end of 2021.